Camping Along Pine Creek
Photo by Dustin Riehl

So here goes nothing! Our new test of a Fridays format. If you’re reading this, you followed the link and I thank you for your willingness to be flexible. I think it will be easier to manage the email this way. I know I won’t necessarily be able to do a lot of fancy formatting with colored backgrounds but at least I am not fighting strangely elongated photos. I don’t think.

The one in the masthead come from Tiadaghton State Forest. Photographer and tenter Dustin responded to a Facebook query, “Where are you?” by answering “Pine Creek Gorge. Where I always am. LOL.” Isn’t it nice to find your heart’s place?

Logo with nature tagPam Metzger, Membership Coordinator
Pennsylvania Parks & Forests Foundation

NEWS OF NOTE

May begins tomorrow and the Environmental Rights Amendment anniversary definitely takes center stage.

What does preservation of the scenic value mean to you MayFirst up, the latest in our series of “challenges” focused on the various promises contained within the amendment. This month we concentrate on our right to the “scenic value” of our natural lands and what preservation of that means to you. What better way to demonstrate the importance of Pennsylvania’s scenic value than through photography?

As in month’s previous, send your entries to [email protected] and we will pick a random winner on Friday, May 28th (the Friday of Parks and Forests Week) for a prize. All entries will be included in a website slide show and, perhaps, used to illustrate the winning entry in our song contest (which continues).

witf ad for the era docymentaryOn May 18th, the actual anniversary of the signing of the amendment, you are cordially invited to join PPFF and WITF/State Impact Pennsylvania for a special screening of documentary clips featuring the history of the passage of the amendment. Following the screening, a panel discussion with DCNR Secretary Cindy Dunn, amendment author Franklin Kury, Rafiyqa Muhammad of the Harrisburg Environmental Advisory Council and DEP Environmental Justice Advisory Board, and Emma Olney from the Governor’s Youth Council for Hunting, Fishing and Conservation gives viewers the chance to learn more about why and how the amendment was created and, just as importantly, what it means for all Pennsylvanians today. Register to join the event at the WITF website.

In a non-ERA note, we have reopened the search for a Public Engagement Coordinator here at PPFF. If you know someone with a passion for the outdoors, a creative mind, and a way with words (and a Twitter feed), we might have just the position!

And speaking of employment, do you know of any bilingual college students with a love of the outdoors  who might like a paid internship in either Jacobsburg or Nolde Forest Environmental Education? Share the attached position description please. Two positions available.

PICTURES OF THE WEEK

202104 jonathan mcculley ohiopyle paint by light

Neighbor Jonathan McCulley knows a thing or two about techno-wizardry of all kinds and shared this great shot of Cucumber Falls at Ohiopyle State Park. Jonathan says, “I light painted the falls with a flashlight.  You paint in the light where you want it and then blend all the different exposures in Photoshop later, using layer masks and blending modes.  It can take up to an hour to process a big panorama like this.” A wow of a vertical is yours for a click. Jigsaw, do you think? Sure!

 

20210428 clare kaczmarek baughman rock epf

At the risk of making this a totally Ohiopyle State Park centric gallery, I am unable to resist Clare Kaczmarek’s shot from Baughman Rock which she noted is her favorite vista. PPFF Marci had posted on Exploring PA Parks & Forests that we are seeking the long views for the next newsletter. Feel free to send me yours.

20210427 pink full moon syed karimushan

We can’t let the week pass without a pink full moon photo. This one is at Black Moshannon State Park and was captured by Syed Karimushan.

tuscarora kayak lad

Last weekend saw the official launch of the Friends of Tuscarora & Locust Lake with a litter pick-up and garden clean-up event at Tuscarora. After the volunteering was over, I watched this little lad launch his kayak like the expert he obviously is.

Caedon Behringer DWG by Jenna

Last week I featured a picture from Facebook of a youngster whose mood and attitude were elevated by a hike in the woods. Our own PPFF Jenna sent me this photo of her son Caedon paddling away at the Delaware Water Gap (we’ll call it the Delaware State Forest for our purposes). Jenna says, “It was the first REAL smile and excitement I’ve seen from him since the pandemic started. It was wonderful. I just love this pic and how happy he was to be back out on the water.” Paddle on, kiddo!

WHERE ARE WE THIS WEEK?

20210430 where are we map

TAKE FIVE FOR TRIVIA

rothrock

In honor of the chainsaw training we hosted last week at Pine Grove Furnace and Lackawanna state parks, our question was about chainsaw safety and the proper way to carry your blade. Yes, indeed, please carry it facing backward away from you. The class, by the way, was incredibly interesting. I simply had no idea how much muscle removing a fallen tree requires – and I do NOT mean strength muscles (although that doesn’t hurt). No, the muscle that will receive the largest workout is the thinking muscle.

April is a five Fridays month so we are going to get a little silly. As we wrap up Rothrock Week, please name his beagle in this famous photo. Get an extra entry if you really DO know the dog’s name! And by all means get to a forest this weekend!

Enter each week to increase your chances of a fabulous prize at the end of the month when I’ll draw one entry from all correct answers received during the month.

IN CLOSING

20210502 national ride a bike day

I will. Will you?! #BikeDay (Bike Month kicks off tomorrow)

Support PPFF

PPFF 2021 Awards Postcard Invite Page 1

Pennsylvania Parks & Forests Foundation (PPFF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization – contributions to which are tax deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law. The official registration and financial information of PPFF may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling, toll-free within Pennsylvania, to 800.732.0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.

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